This invention relates to firefighting equipment and, more particularly, to a portable sprinkler and process for fighting oil refinery fires and the like.
Fires in oil refineries and petrochemical plants are different in many respects than fires in homes, apartments, and office buildings. Fires in homes, apartments, and office buildings occur primarily in the inside of the buildings, although the flames can rise above the buildings' exteriors. Fires in homes, apartments, and office buildings present a different set of problems than fires in oil refineries and petrochemical plants.
Fires in oil refinreies and petrochemical plants occur primarily on the outside and in the open air where there are gusts of wind and an endless supply of air to support combustion. Fires in oil refineries and petrochemical plants often involve or are near large amounts of fuel and process equipment which can feed the fire and/or cause enormous explosions. These sources of combustible fuel can include aboveground tanks containing gasoline, oil, petrochemical feedstocks, and other hydrocarbons, as well as numerous oil pipelines and gas lines. Refinery process equipment typically includes hydrotreaters which contain hydrogen-rich gases at high pressures and temperatures, catalytic cracking units, pipe stills, fractionating columns, combustors, regenerators, furnaces, CO boilers, alkylation units, and/or isomerization units.
Fires in oil refineries and petrochemical plants are extremely dangerous. They can cause extensive damage to a refinery or petrochemical plant as well as to property in adjacent areas. Such fires and explosions can also cause death and severe injuries to personnel in the refinery or petrochemical plant and nearby persons.
Fires in oil refineries and petrochemical plants often emit enormous flames, fireballs, billows of smoke, immense heat, and clouds of noxious toxic gases. Because of the vast amounts of heat generated by the fire, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to get firefighting crews with hoses, sprinklers, or other equipment close enough to the fire to quickly, efficiently and effectively contain and extinguish the fire. Furthermore, smoke and toxic gases emitted from petroleum fires often also prevent firefighting personnel from getting sufficiently near the fire with their hoses, sprinklers, and other equipment to quickly and effieiently, abate the fire.
Over the years, a variety of sprinklers, spray nozzles, water fans, and other devices have been used for fighting fires and for other purposes. Typifying these prior art sprinklers, spray nozzles, water fans, and other devices are those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 600,149; 941,109; 2,516,401; 2,903,190; 2,956,751; 3,045,931; 3,047,238; 3,047,241; 3,069,100; 3,109,593; 3,241,772; and 3,252,661. These prior art sprinklers, spray nozzles, water fans, and other devices have met with varying degrees of success and have not been generally effective for containing and extinguishing fires in oil refineries and petrochemical plants.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved system and process for fighting fires in oil refineries and petrochemical plants whichever overcomes most, if not all, of the preceding problems.